Wednesday 7 November 2012

Brian Cox: BBC bosses feared alien discovery could breach editorial guidelines

Brian Cox and his Stargazing Live crew were banned from searching for life on a newly discovered planet because BBC bosses feared aliens may breach editorial guidelines.
 
Prof Brian Cox claims the BBC scuppered his attempts to search for alien life live on air in case aliens breached editorial guidelines Photo: JAY WILLIAMS
 
 

Prof Cox, who hosts the show with comedian Dara O'Briain, said he had hoped to point the Jodrell Bank telescope at the planet Threapleton Holmes B after it was discovered live on air last year and listen for signs of life.
But he claimed he was prevented from doing so because the Corporation was concerned that a discovery of aliens could violate BBC regulations.
Speaking on the BBC Radio 6 Music breakfast show on Wednesday, Prof Cox said: "The BBC actually said 'You can't do that. We need to go through the regulations and health and safety and everything in case we discover a signal from an alien civilisation'.
"[I said], you mean we would discover the first hint that there is other intelligent life in the universe beyond Earth, live on air, and you're worried about the health and safety of it?
"It was incredible. They did have guidelines. Compliance!"

The incident was not the only time that producers have failed to appreciate the significance of a potential discovery of alien life, Prof Cox added.
The Stargazing Live team had considered filming a feature on Mars which would ask the audience to help search for signs of geological activity which could point to past or current life on the planet.
"Someone from the BBC said to me, 'Would there have to be a prize if someone discovered it?'" he said.
"[I said], what do you mean? You're going to say to someone: 'You discovered the first evidence for alien life beyond Earth, and here's a book voucher as well? You think that's going to make it better? Nectar points?'"
A BBC spokesman said: "In making the series there were many light hearted conversations, one of which was about how different organisations might react to the discovery of alien life.”

UFO News Links For Wednesday 7th November 2012

 

Closed encounters of the third kind – The Sun

Vision Magazine November 2012 Feature New Era: GaiamTV.com A Conversation with George Noory by Sydney L. Murray

Expert wants more data on UFO sighting – My Daily News

New Hampshire UFO Research: Source of the 1896 Portsmouth Naval Yard UFO Encounter Called Into Question

On India-China border, reports of UFOs skyrocket – Los Angeles Times

hidden experience: Hanger 18 and predictive weirdness

Methane could be key to life on Mars – Newsday

The Haunted Skies Project: Haunted Skies Blog November 2012

Book Review: Forbidden History: Prehistoric Technologies, Extraterrestrial Intervention, and the Suppressed Origins of Civilization – Seattle Post Intelligencer

UFOs Reported Near Malmstrom AFB's Nuclear Missile Sites in September 2012

Alien claims and a missing little girl – Herald Sun

UFO: Alien entities appear over L.A. -- Demons or Angels - Examine...

Met Police and CPS to discuss Gary McKinnon legal case in late November – V3.co.uk

You Won't Believe How Many People Report UFO Sightings Every Month...

Residents Witness UFO in Sky – French Tribune

Photographing the Nazca Lines

UFO Sightings on the Decline, Scientists Debate Possibility Aliens are an Urban Legend – International Business Times UK

My Evidence Video of a UFO Crashing in Northern Louisiana ~ News

Planet X Clearly Seen By Naked Eye


I.F.O. - Halo Glyth flies over London (Video)


Published on 6 Nov 2012 itnnews

Celebrities, fans and the Master Chief himself turned out for the launch of Halo 4 in London, and they were treated to a dramatic aerial light display. Report by Mark Morris.

Topic: UFO - Guest Alejandro Rojas / The Cosmic Exploration Conference (Video)

 
Published on 8 Jun 2012 By Topic UFO
 
Your host Rick Scouler welcomes long time Ufologist, UFO Think Tank Radio Show Host, Journalist & Blogger - Alejandro Rojas. Alejandro talks about his last 10+ years in the UFO community and offers up some personal thoughts and theories regarding certain aspects of Ufology overall. Also discussed is the upcoming "Cosmic Exploration Conference" coming up on October 5th - 7th, 2012 at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada !

UFO reports up, UFO reports down: The media’s roller coaster reporting



On November 5, 2012, the International Business Times and other media outlets published stories claiming that UFO sightings are on the decline. The source for this claim is a press release issued by the UK-based Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena (ASSAP). This group asserts that “ufology has seemingly been in global decline” since the 1980s, and that “in many parts of the world, UFO sightings have exhibited a general downward trend.”
But wait. I thought UFO sighting reports were at near-record levels.
The Winnipeg-based group Ufology Research tracks UFO sighting reports in Canada, and data published in their 2011 Canadian UFO Survey concluded that 2011 was a near-record year for UFO sighting reports in Canada. The year’s numbers were just shy of the record set in 2008.
In August, 2010, the Halifax Courier published a story titled, “UFO sightings on the rise.”
In June, 2011, io9.com published a story titled “UFO sightings in Argentina on the rise.”
In October, 2011, Finnish news site Yle Uutiset published a story titled, “UFO Sightings on the Rise in Finland.”
In July, 2012, Australia’s Herald Sun reported that, based on data from UFO Research (NSW) Incorporated, “UFO sightings in Australia are on the rise.”
In January, 2012, Lee Speigel of the Huffington Post published an article titled, “UFO Sightings Skyrocket Into 2012.”
Although these headlines, and many more just like them, were published during the past couple years, that did not deter several media outlets from publishing recent headlines like “UFO Sightings on the Decline, Scientists Debate Possibility Aliens are an Urban Legend,” and “Aliens may not exist after all,” in response to the recent release by ASSAP.
Roger Marsh, editor of the Mutual UFO Network’s (MUFON) journal, responded to these headlines and the claims made by ASSAP by citing statistical data in a recent Examiner.com article. The data from MUFON indicates an increase in reported UFO sightings in the U.S.:

2007, 2,203 reports; 2008, 4,220 reports; 2009, 4,990 reports; 2010, 4,534 reports; 2011, 5,137. During the first 10 months of 2012, MUFON has received a total of 7,272 reports.
 
 
(Credit: Open Minds/MUFON)
 
MUFON’s Executive Director, David MacDonald, told Marsh that “ufology was alive and well.”
It is unclear whether or not ASSAP truly believes the statements made in their recent release. The purpose of this release was to promote their upcoming event titled “Seriously Unidentified – A Summit on the Future of UFOlogy.” If their intent was to create headlines and spark discussion, that goal has been achieved.

UFO Sighting in Afghanistan Captured on Video

By UFO Casebook
UFO Image
Afghanistan - 10-17-12
Originally published on Oct 17, 2012 by ProperGanderSaul
There is not much information available on this strange footage. This sighting is reportedly from Afghanistan near Kabul and was taken by Americans. I can only assume they were Marines.
The quality of the video is quite poor which may suggest the UFO sighting was recorded on an old mobile phone or some other low level video recorder.
If this is an alien spacecraft, and if it is the first one to visit earth, how do you think the aliens would have reacted to what they saw?
Perhaps they have visited numerous times and were routinely observing a war field. Shots were fired and the UFO swiftly flew away in front of an alleged audience of hundreds of Americans and Afghans.

Aliens escape from Area 51 in new UFO movie

By Robbie Graham

 
How genuinely refreshing to see Hollywood filmmakers sticking their necks out on a UFO movie in which the US military is depicted as the hostile force rather than the alien visitors.
The new trailer for Escape from Planet Earth would seem to indicate that Hollywood still has some faith in the non-hostility of potential extraterrestrial intelligences despite Tinseltown’s long and successful history of aggressively demonizing life beyond Earth (UFO buffs will note the references to modern human technology being seeded -- or in this case literally produced -- by ETs... Philip Corso, anyone?).
 
 
Here’s the official blurb for the movie:
 
“The 3D animated family comedy Escape from Planet Earth catapults film goers to planet Baab, where admired astronaut Scorch Supernova (Brendon Fraser) is a national hero to the blue alien population. A master of daring rescues, Scorch pulls off astonishing feats with the quiet aid of his nerdy, by-the-rules brother, Gary, head of mission control at BASA. When BASA's no-nonsense chief Lena (Jessica Alba) informs the brothers of an SOS from a notoriously dangerous planet, Scorch rejects Gary's warnings and bounds off for yet another exciting mission. But when Scorch finds himself caught in a fiendish trap set by the evil Shanker (James Gandolfini), it's up to scrawny, risk-adverse Gary to do the real rescuing. As the interplanetary stakes rise to new heights, Gary is left to save his brother, his planet, his beloved wife Kira (Sarah Jesscia Parker) and their adventure hungry son Kip.”
 
Okay, so the trailer makes it clear that we shouldn’t be expecting cinematic greatness, but the concept of aliens in peril at the hands of paranoid human officials puts Escape from Planet Earth in the company of E.T. The Extraterrestrial, Super 8, and only a handful of other films of this ilk to have been produced in the history of the UFO subgenre. More like this, please, Hollywood. You can do it if you try.
 
Escape from Planet Earth is due for release Feb. 14, 2013.

Helicopters of the Mysterious Kind



There can be very few people – if, indeed, any – with an interest in UFOs, conspiracies, cover-ups, and strange and sinister goings-on of a distinctly weird nature who have not heard of the so-called “black helicopters” or “phantom helicopters” that seem to play an integral – albeit admittedly unclear – role in perceived UFO-connected events. And one of the biggest misconceptions about this deeply weird phenomenon is that those same mysterious helicopters are lacking in official documentation. Actually not so at all. In fact, exactly the opposite. If you know where to go looking…
The FBI’s now-declassified files on cattle-mutilations in 1970s USA make for fascinating reading and demonstrate the Bureau had a deep awareness of the presence of the enigmatic helicopters in affairs of the mute kind. On 29 August 1975, Floyd K. Haskell, Senator for the State of Colorado, wrote an impassioned letter to Theodore P. Rosack, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI at Denver, Colorado, imploring the FBI to make a full investigation into the cattle mutilations, in an attempt to resolve the matter once and for all.

 
He said: “For several months my office has been receiving reports of cattle mutilations throughout Colorado and other western states. At least 130 cases in Colorado alone have been reported to local officials and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI); the CBI has verified that the incidents have occurred for the last two years in nine states. The ranchers and rural residents of Colorado are concerned and frightened by these incidents. The bizarre mutilations are frightening in themselves: in virtually all the cases, the left ear, rectum and sex organ of each animal has been cut away and the blood drained from the carcass, but with no traces of blood left on the ground and no footprints.”
 
And there was an unmarked helicopter out in force in Colorado too, as Senator Haskell was only too well aware:
“In Colorado’s Morgan County area there has [sic] also been reports that a helicopter was used by those who mutilated the carcasses of the cattle, and several persons have reported being chased by a similar helicopter. Because I am gravely concerned by this situation, I am asking that the Federal Bureau of Investigation enter the case. Although the CBI has been investigating the incidents, and local officials also have been involved, the lack of a central unified direction has frustrated the investigation.”
He continued: “It seems to have progressed little, except for the recognition at long last that the incidents must be taken seriously. Now it appears that ranchers are arming themselves to protect their livestock, as well as their families and themselves, because they are frustrated by the unsuccessful investigation. Clearly something must be done before someone gets hurt.”
The loss of livestock in at least 21 states under similar circumstances suggested that an interstate operation was being coordinated. Senator Haskell closed his letter by urging the FBI to begin its investigation as soon as possible. Senator Haskell forced the issue by issuing a press release, informing the media that he had asked the FBI to investigate the mutilations. This caused the Denver Post newspaper to take up the Senator’s plea on 3 September:
“If the Bureau will not enter the investigation of the mysterious livestock deaths in Colorado and some adjacent states then Senator Floyd Haskell should take the matter to Congress for resolution.”

 
Aware of previous FBI statements that the killings were not within the Bureau’s jurisdiction, the Denver Post stated firmly: “The incidents are too widespread – and potentially too dangerous to public order – to ignore. Narrow interpretations of what the FBI’s role is vis-a-vis state authority are not adequate to the need.”
The issue of possible disregard for the law should the Bureau not wish to become involved was also high on the Post’s agenda: “There is already federal involvement. Consider this: Because of the gun-happy frame of mind developing in eastern Colorado (where most of the incidents have been occurring), the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has had to cancel a helicopter inventory of its lands in six counties. BLM officials are simply afraid their helicopters might be shot down by ranchers and others frightened by cattle deaths.”
On the day after publication, Special Agents Rosack and Sebesta of the Colorado FBI made a visit to the offices of the Denver Post, where, in a meeting with three Post representatives, Charles R. Buxton, Lee Olson and Robert Partridge, they spelled out the FBI’s position with respect to mutilations: “…unless the FBI has investigative jurisdiction under Federal statute, we cannot enter any investigation.”

 
One week later, on 11 September, Senator Haskell telephoned Clarence M. Kelley at the FBI to discuss the issue of cattle and animal mutilation and the possibility of the FBI becoming involved in determining who, exactly, was responsible. Again, the FBI asserted that this was a matter outside of its jurisdiction.
The Bureau noted: “Senator Haskell [said that] he understood our statutory limitations but he wished there was something we could do,” reported an FBI official, R. J. Gallagher. Haskell had additional reasons for wanting the mutilation issue resolved swiftly, as Gallagher recorded in an internal memorandum of 12 September 1975:
“Senator Haskell recontacted me this afternoon and said that he had received a call from Dane Edwards, editor of the paper in Brush, Colorado, who furnished information that US Army helicopters had been seen in the vicinity of where some of the cattle were mutilated and that he, Edwards, had been threatened but Senator Haskell did not know what sort of threats Edwards had received or by whom. He was advised that this information would be furnished to our Denver Office and that Denver would closely follow the situation.”
The FBI ultimately determined that the unidentified helicopter issue was also outside of its jurisdiction. Curiously, however, during this same time frame, numerous reports of both UFOs and unidentified helicopters surfaced in the immediate vicinity of strategic military installations around the USA, and there is evidence that someone within the FBI was fully aware of this, and was taking more than a cursory interest in these sightings.
 

Proof comes via a number of Air Force reports forwarded to the FBI only weeks after its contact with Senator Haskell. One report from December 1975 states:
“On 7 Nov 75 an off duty missile launch officer reported that unidentified aircraft resembling a helicopter had approached and hovered near a USAF missile launch control facility, near Lewistown. Source explained that at about 0020, 7 Nov 75, source and his deputy officer had just retired from crew rest in the Soft Support Building (SSB) at the LCF, when both heard the sound of a helicopter rotor above the SSB. The Deputy observed two red-and-white lights on the front of the aircraft, a white light on the bottom, and a white light on the rear.

“On 7 Nov 75, Roscoe E. III, Captain, 341 Strategic Missile Wing, advised that during the hours of 6-7 Nov 75, two adjacent LCFs, approximately 50 miles south of aforementioned LCF, reported moving lights as unidentified flying objects (UFO). During this period there were no reports of helicopter noises from personnel at these LCFs.
“This office was recently notified of a message received by security police MAFB, MT., detailing a similar nocturnal approach by a helicopter at a USAF weapons storage area located at another USAF base in the Northern Tier states. Local authorities denied the use of their helicopters during the period 6-7 Nov 75.”
It’s curious that these reports should have been of interest to the FBI, given the statements made to Senator Haskell that the unidentified helicopter sightings reported in Colorado were outside of the FBI’s jurisdiction.
It is also notable that an unauthenticated document made available to researcher William Moore (co-author with Charles Berlitz of The Roswell Incident) refers to the Northern Tier helicopter and UFO sightings of 1975, and expresses concern that, in view of the fact that the media had picked up on the stories, there was a need on the part of some authority to develop an effective disinformation plan to counter the developing interest that was surrounding the sightings.
In view of all the above, whatever the truth behind the matter of helicopters of the black and phantom kind, methinks we have not heard the end of this controversy…
Feature image sourced from Deviant Art user ~Pisces-death.